﻿108 
  TWENTY-FIRST 
  REPORT 
  ON 
  THE 
  STATE 
  CABINET. 
  

  

  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  skeleton 
  are 
  found. 
  In 
  some 
  instances, 
  the 
  

   occurrence 
  of 
  a 
  tooth 
  in 
  a 
  gravel 
  bed 
  has 
  been 
  attributed 
  to 
  its 
  

   transportation 
  by 
  some 
  river 
  current 
  from 
  a 
  swamp 
  or 
  alluvial 
  

   deposit. 
  While 
  a 
  few 
  bones, 
  the 
  teeth, 
  or 
  parts 
  of 
  tusks 
  are 
  of 
  

   frequent 
  occurrence, 
  the 
  entire 
  skeleton 
  is 
  very 
  rare. 
  At 
  the 
  Big 
  

   Bone 
  Lick, 
  in 
  Kentucky, 
  numerous 
  teeth, 
  tusks 
  and 
  bones 
  have 
  been 
  

   found, 
  but 
  nothing 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  I 
  know 
  approaching 
  an 
  entire 
  skele- 
  

   ton. 
  It 
  is 
  doubtless 
  quite 
  true, 
  however, 
  that 
  any 
  skeletons 
  of 
  these 
  

   animals, 
  left 
  upon 
  the 
  surface 
  or 
  imbedded 
  in 
  the 
  loose 
  soil 
  or 
  

   gravel, 
  would 
  in 
  time 
  disappear 
  leaving 
  only 
  the 
  more 
  indestruc- 
  

   tible 
  portions 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  teeth. 
  

  

  I 
  do 
  not 
  believe 
  that 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  Mastodon 
  remains 
  which 
  

   we 
  find, 
  are 
  of 
  animals 
  that 
  wandered 
  into 
  swamps 
  or 
  sought 
  

   their 
  food 
  in 
  such 
  localities, 
  and 
  thus 
  became 
  mired. 
  On 
  the 
  

   contrary, 
  it 
  appears 
  to 
  me 
  more 
  natural 
  and 
  more 
  in 
  accordance 
  

   with 
  the 
  conditions 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  found, 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  

   they 
  were 
  deposited 
  in 
  a 
  pool 
  or 
  pond 
  of 
  water, 
  which, 
  during 
  

   subsequent 
  time 
  has 
  been 
  invaded 
  by 
  the 
  gradually 
  encroach- 
  

   ing 
  vegetation, 
  and 
  the 
  accumulation 
  of 
  the 
  peaty 
  deposit 
  has 
  

   in 
  this 
  manner 
  filled 
  the 
  area 
  previously 
  occupied 
  by 
  water, 
  and 
  

   thus 
  covered 
  the 
  Mastodon 
  remains. 
  These 
  swampy 
  depressions 
  

   are 
  often 
  partially 
  or 
  almost 
  entirety 
  surrounded 
  by 
  gravel 
  hills 
  

   or 
  ridges 
  ; 
  and 
  it 
  seems 
  a 
  natural 
  solution 
  of 
  the 
  question 
  to 
  sup- 
  

   pose 
  that 
  these 
  hills 
  are 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  the 
  moraines 
  from 
  the 
  gla- 
  

   cier, 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  modified 
  by 
  the 
  action 
  of 
  water, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  

   Mastodon 
  remains 
  have 
  dropped 
  from 
  the 
  melting 
  ice, 
  which 
  left 
  

   the 
  pool 
  or 
  pond 
  where 
  the 
  vegetable 
  deposit 
  has 
  subsequently 
  

   accumulated.* 
  

  

  * 
  In 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  skeleton 
  of 
  the 
  Mastodon 
  found 
  near 
  Newburgh 
  (the 
  Warren 
  Mas- 
  

   todon), 
  Dr. 
  Charles 
  A. 
  Lee 
  writes 
  me 
  as 
  follows: 
  " 
  As 
  I 
  visited 
  the 
  spot 
  soon 
  after 
  the 
  

   skeleton 
  was 
  discovered, 
  and 
  examined 
  everything 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  locality, 
  I 
  can 
  con- 
  

   fidently 
  assert 
  that 
  the 
  skeleton 
  was 
  not 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  stratum 
  of 
  shell-marl 
  below 
  the 
  peat 
  

   or 
  muck, 
  but 
  was 
  wholly 
  immersed 
  in 
  the 
  muck 
  or 
  peat, 
  with 
  a 
  thin 
  layer 
  of 
  marl 
  over 
  it, 
  

   produced 
  from 
  small 
  fresh 
  water 
  shells, 
  such 
  as 
  we 
  very 
  often 
  find 
  in 
  our 
  swamps 
  and 
  

   peat-beds." 
  

  

  The 
  order 
  of 
  succession 
  of 
  the 
  materials 
  in 
  these 
  bogs 
  or 
  swamps 
  is 
  usually 
  as 
  follows: 
  

  

  1. 
  Muck, 
  peaty 
  soil 
  or 
  peat; 
  often 
  with 
  trunks 
  and 
  branches 
  of 
  trees. 
  

  

  2. 
  " 
  Shell-marl 
  " 
  made 
  up 
  of 
  the 
  exuvia 
  of 
  fresh-water 
  shells, 
  the 
  precipitation 
  of 
  

   calcareous 
  matter 
  brought 
  in 
  by 
  the 
  percolation 
  of 
  water 
  through 
  the 
  adjacent 
  gravel, 
  and 
  

   all 
  intermingled 
  with 
  a 
  fine 
  c\a,j. 
  (This 
  shell-marl 
  is 
  not 
  always 
  present.) 
  

  

  3. 
  Clay, 
  very 
  fine 
  and 
  impalpable 
  above 
  and 
  becoming 
  coarser 
  below. 
  

  

  4. 
  Sand 
  or 
  gravel, 
  or 
  both 
  together. 
  

  

  Now, 
  the 
  Newburgh 
  or 
  Warren 
  Mastodon 
  skeleton 
  being 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  thin 
  stratum 
  of 
  

   shell-marl, 
  precludes 
  the 
  theory 
  that 
  the 
  animal 
  had 
  walked 
  into 
  this 
  bog. 
  The 
  deposition 
  

   of 
  the 
  shell-marl 
  was 
  essentially 
  completed 
  in 
  the 
  pond 
  or 
  lake 
  before 
  the 
  vegetation 
  had 
  

   invaded 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  its 
  area. 
  

  

  